27th june – 4th july bookish roundup

Sorry I didn’t do this last week – as I’ve mentioned elsewhere, I was without a computer for a couple days. But this week? Here we goooooooo!

Many of the UK’s leading authors and wordy people have been speaking out about the recent EU Referendum. This includes some of my personal favourites, Kazuo Ishiguro and Philip Pullman, who have been calling for a second referendum, especially in light of an increased number of reported xenophobic acts. Ishiguro states: “We need a second referendum, for or against a “Brexit Light”, that will unite Britain around its traditional humane instincts. And to isolate the racists who today deludedly believe they have won the backing of the country.”

Relatedly, there has also been a great deal of discussion about how Brexit will impact UK book businesses – many of the main British publishing houses have stated their disappointment in the referendum on their Twitter accounts, and Waterstones has already warned its employees about potential job losses. However, I also saw many who see Brexit as a challenge, and one that the book world is eager to take on.

Roald Dahl’s BFG has been translated into yet another language – this time, into Scottish! The Guid Freendly Giant is being published by Black and White Publishing, one of Scotland’s leading independent publishers.